USA

February 18, 2009

President Obama "hit the road" Tuesday to sign the $787 billion stimulus bill in Denver. Such signing ceremonies usually occur in Washington, but Obama has recently taken to getting outside the Beltway to connect with average citizens. On Wednesday, he will visit Phoenix to unveil a program to help millions of homeowners fend off mortgage foreclosure.

Though ice is considered a possible cause of the fatal crash ofContinental Connection Flight 3407 near Buffalo last week, investigators said Monday that innumerable other possibilities exist. Their recovery of the propeller blades, deicing valves, and other parts could help unravel what happened during the plane's 26-second plunge, which took 50 lives.

In hopes of finding the one Republican vote needed to breakCalifornia's budget stalemate and possibly avoid a layoff of 10,000 government workers, Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D) called for the state Legislature to reconvene Tuesday until a budget passes.

Mexican drug smugglers have taken to using piloted ultralight aircraft to transport marijuana into southern Arizona, say federal officials, who've begun investigating the practice. During the past four months three ultralights have crashed, killing one pilot and paralyzing another.

In the switch to digital-only TV broadcasting, more than 400 stations shut down their analog operations Tuesday or thereabouts rather than waiting until June 12, the new deadline set by Congress. An additional 191 full-power stations had already turned off analog.

Liberty Media Corp. plans to invest $530 million in Sirius XM Radio Inc., it said Tuesday of a deal that could help the satellite radio company avert bankruptcy.

Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps will not be prosecuted for smoking marijuana at the University of South Carolina last year, the Richland County sheriff said Monday, citing insufficient evidence. Phelps apologized after a British tabloid published a picture of him smoking a "bong" pipe at a student party.